This invention relates to toolholder clamps for clamping a toolholder in the toolholder socket on the outer end of a machine tool spindle.
One common toolholder clamp includes a drawbar which is rotatably mounted within a central longitudinal bore in the machine tool spindle and has a threaded outer end which engages a threaded opening in the inner end of the toolholder. To clamp the toolholder in the toolholder socket with this clamp, the toolholder is held in the toolholder socket and the drawbar is rotated, either manually or by a drawbar motor, to screw the end of the drawbar into the threaded opening on the end of the toolholder, thereby engaging the toolholder and drawing it against the margins of the toolholder socket and clamping it therein. To release the toolholder, the drawbar is rotated in the opposite direction to unscrew its threaded end from the toolholder.
With the above-noted type of toolholder clamp, it is difficult and time consuming to manually screw the drawbar into the toolholder, and therefore such toolholder clamps usually include a drawbar motor along with the necessary gearing and control circuits therefor.
The principal object of this invention is to provide a simplified toolholder clamp that can be quickly and easily attached to a threaded toolholder without using a drawbar motor.
Another object of the invention is to provide a simplified toolholder clamp that clamps a threaded toolholder relatively tightly in a toolholder socket but which can be quickly and easily released to remove the toolholder.
A further object of the invention is to provide a toolholder clamp for threaded toolholders which is simpler and more reliable than those heretofore known in the art.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description herein.